Transportation funding in Virginia a historical problem

Depending on who is queried, highway tolls may be the answer to Virginia's transportation funding problems, a component of a broader solution or an indicator of the coming apocalypse.

The fervor that frequently accompanies discussions of how to pay for road upkeep and new construction might make it seem like this is a new issue, but Virginia has a long history of funding crises, and use of tolls to pay for needed infrastructure dates at least to 1772.

At that time, the Virginia legislature moved forward what is considered the first toll road in America — a mountain highway between Jennings Gap and Warm Springs, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation's "A History of Roads in Virginia." The road was financed with 300 pounds advanced by the colony and 900 pounds generated by a lottery — a price tag that equals about $1,800 using today's sterling to dollar exchange rates.

To understand just how much things have changed, consider the approximate $43 per-mile cost of the 41-mile Mountain Road with the approximate $36.3 million-per-mile it will cost for the U.S. 460 toll road between Suffolk and Petersburg that VDOT is planning to build using a private construction consortium.

But even back then, at a price that would barely buy a 10-year-old used car in today's marketplace, transportation funding was an issue that had to be addressed. And, unlike in today's political environment, it was addressed.

The problem has become even more problematic in recent years due to the economic downturn that forced about $1 billion to be cut annually from the transportation budget.

"That really hurt," said Aubrey Layne, the Hampton Roads representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board. "That's what made this transportation funding crisis so acute. Because it goes back to we weren't raising taxes before because things were good. You don't need to raise them. Now, you can't raise them because things are bad and you can't afford to.

"My point is when the hell can you raise them? There is never a good time," Layne said. It goes back to the fact that it was never supposed to be based on that. It was supposed to be based on the needs of the commonwealth and we would adjust them (taxes) to that."

Many leaders and transportation-related officials are hopeful the General Assembly will address the funding problems during its upcoming session that starts Wednesday. But given 2013 is an election year for many lawmakers, there is also a strong possibility the issue could be passed over again as in past years.

Early funding

The late 1700s and much of the 1800s were marked by development of many turnpikes, the historic account states, noting that Thomas Jefferson considered toll financing a means of building needed highway infrastructure that was too complex or costly for counties to handle..

Jefferson is cited as saying: "If the stream be such as to require a bridge of regular workmanship, the county employs workmen to build it at the expense of the whole county. If it be too great for the county, application is made to the General Assembly, who authorizes individuals to build it and to take a fixed toll from all passengers, or gives sanction to such other propositions as to them appear reasonable."

By the early 1900s, the General Assembly decided to regulate motor vehicle use and require registration at a cost of $5 or $10 per auto, depending on horsepower. The fees — $21,656 was collected the first year — were to be paid into the state treasury as a special fund to be spent on improving main roads, the VDOT historical account states.

Adequately funding transportation has grown progressively more difficult since then.

Modern problems

The 1970s brought oil embargoes and gasoline shortages that threatened the economy and diminished the buying power of the state gas tax. In 1976, tolls were removed from the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel on the same day the span's second tube opened. It was also at this time that the General Assembly mandated transportation maintenance needs — and associated funding — take precedence over new construction.

Ongoing budget concerns bled into the 1980s as Virginia struggled to match federal aid and maintain the nation's third largest highway system after North Carolina and Texas. In 1980, the General Assembly approved a 2 cents per gallon hike in the motor fuel tax — a move that provided an annual increase of about $576 million for the state highway program. The legislature was able to generate another $263 in additional funding in 1982 by enacting an oil excise tax and other highway user fees and increasing motor vehicle registration costs.